Boiler feed pump



March 18, 1930. R, E. WHITE; 1,750,980

BOILER FEED PUMP Filed Sept. 4, 1924 Patented Mar. 18, 1930 rasees@RAYMOND E. VJHITE, OF NEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSEGNOR- TO STEAM VEHICLECORPORATION OF` AMERICA, OF NETWTON, WIASSAC-ESETTS, A. COBORATION OFNEW YORK BOILER FEED PUMP Application led September My invention hasreference to boiler feed devices or pumps, and more particularly todriving means for such pumps as used on steam power units, for example,steam-driven vehicles or automobiles.

Heretofore, it has been customary in the operation or driving orpsteam-driven cars to drive the water pumps by means of a takeoff Jfromthe engine or crank shaft, in the form otl a reciprocating rod, and attimes .when the speed of the engine and drive shaft 'operation or" thepump and a supply ot water to the boiler to meet the demand ot steamused or required for driving or power purposes at all times, even thoughthe speed of the vehicle drops below a certain point, as when travelingup hill, or over mountain or rough roads, thus obviating the necessityfor manual or hand pumping when the steam demand is greatest.

The invention also comprehends a novel take-oit device by which thewater pump may be driven from a drive shaft operated as a take-ott" fromthe engine crank shaft, which drive shaft also serves to operate agenerator which, through the medium of a manually or automaticallyoperated declutching device, may be set in operation to drive the waterpump when the speed ot the vehicle drops below a critical point as whennegotiating a steep grade at a slow rate of speed, at which time thesteam demand is the greatest, thereby obviating the necessity for manualoperation of the pump and causing 4, 1924. Serial No. 735,891.

the generator to operate as a motor and to keep the boiler feed pump upto the proper speed according to the demand on the boiler. This is verydesirable for mountain driving or for pumping when the vehicle isstanding at rest.

The invention therefore embodies novel means for automatically ormanually throwing into operation a generator, storage battery or otherreserve source of driving means, which generator may be ordinarilydriven from the motive or power source ot' the vehicle, but which whenthe latter is not capable of driving the water pump at suiiicient speedto meet the demand tor power and supply ot water required by the steamgenerating source, such reserve torce will become effective, therebyinsuring a supply of water to the boiler to meet the demand andmaintaining efcient operation and maximum driving power.

lViththe above and other objects in view, the invention consists incertain novel corr bin-ations, and arrangements of parts to behereinafter more fully described in claims.

lin the drawings the igure is a 'fragmentary plan view showing anautomobile chassis equipped with the driving or power unit, includingthe water pump operating means constituting the subject matter or thepresent invention.

Referring t0 the .drawings in detail, in which the invention is shownapplied to a motor vehicle or automobile such as a permanentl gearedengine to aXle type to which the pumping system is desirably applied, lOdesignates the chassis or frame, ll the rear axle housing having theusual rear axle bearing the driving wheels l2, which parts may be oitconventional construction. The motor is designated at 13, being` in theform of a steam engine provided with the steam inlet pipe or conduit 14,and the exhaustpipe l5, the Jformer being connected to the boiler orsteam generator, and the latter to thD container 16 as shown. The engineis supported by the spring suspension 17 from the side bars of the frameor chassis, and the controlling devices for the engine and wheel brakesdesignated at 18 and 19 may be mounted in any preferredA or well knownmanner as upon the transverse supporting rods or shafts 20, or arrangedto operate the same in the conventional or well known manner or in anyspecial manner desired.

The engine casing is provided with a crank case 2l at the rear endthereof, connected with the axle housing 11, having a supplementalcasing 22 at one side in which the engine shaft is geared or otherwiseoperatively connected to a drive shaft 23 extending alongside the engineand casing thereof, and preferably provided within the ball bearingmeans 24k carried by a cross member 25 of the frame extending betweenthe side bars'10. JFabric universal joints or the like 26 may also beinserted in the length of the shaft 23 adjacent the ends or bearingpoints thereof, to allow for the necessary angular movements during upand down movements of the rear wheels and axle with respect to the frameof the machine. It may also be mentioned that the casing 22 provides agear box in line with the crank shaft whereby through the medium ofsuitable driving means such as miter gears, rotation may be imparted tothe shaft 23 from the engine.

In the drawing I have illustrated somewhat diagrammatically a clutch 27.This clutch may be of any suitable type well known in the art. It may beeither manually controlled, as by a hand lever, or it may beautomatically controlled, as by the temperature or pressure of the steamin the boiler through any suitablev thermal or pressure device also wellknown in the art.

At its forward end, the shaft 23 is connected through the medium of thesuitable manually or automatically operated declutching` device 27,including a spring 28 normally urging the clutch into operativeengagement, with a shaft 29 in which is interposed universal joints 30upon opposite sides of the gear take-off device 31 constitutingoperative geared drive connections between the interposed shaft sectionand the water pump 32, preferably of the double-acting four-cylindertype as illustrated. The drive connection 31 is adapted to operate thepump through the medium of the crank shaft 33 thereofwhereby to supplythe normal or required amount of water to the boiler or other steamgenerating plant, not shown, in the efhcient operation of the vehicle.The forward end of shaft 29 is operatively connected to a generator 34,as through the medium of a chain drive 35 around which a suitable case36 may be mounted to render the same noiseless. It is to be understoodthat the generator is operating and generating current inconnection-with suitable storage batteries 40 which may be used forlighting or power purposes, or for operating the water pump 32 inaccordanceV with the present invention as will be presently pointed out.Of course, it is to be understood that suitable control means areprovided for regulating the action of the generator or source ofelectrical energy such as storage batteries. The generator is of thattype which is adapted to charge a battery as long as the voltage createdthereby is above a predetermined value. As soon as the voltage createdby the generator falls below this value the generator automaticallyceases to charge the battery. Now in the present invention, as long asthe shaft 29 is running at or above a certain speed, the voltage comingfrom the generator will be sulficient to charge the battery 40. If thespeed of the shaft 29 falls below this certain speed the generator willautomatically cease to charge the battery 40. rlhrough the operation ofthe clutch 27, the shaft 23 is disconnected from the shaft 29. Then byoperating a switch 41 which may be of any usual or suitableconstruction, the battery 40 may be made to supply current to thegenerator which then functions as a motor to drive the shaft 29 and theassociated pump. Y As is well known to those versed in the'electricalart, it is quite common practice to employ generators which are adaptedto serve the above discussed two functions, namely, that of chargin thebattery until the voltage drops belc-w a set amount and then serving asa motor utilizing current from the same battery.

n the operation of the illustrated embodiment, during the normaloperation or running of the engine when the vehicle is traveling onlevel or even ground and the steam demand on the boiler is normal, theshaft 23 through its geared or operative drive connections with thecrank shaft or engine, will be driven at the` required speed for theproper operation of the water pump 32, the clutch 27 being connected todrive the shaft 29 and through the geared connection or worm gear 31, tooperate the pump 3.. for supplying the necessary volume of water to theboiler or steam generatino` plant to meet the demand upon the same bythe engine. However, when the vehicle is negotiating a very steep, longgrade at a slow rate of speed, or the travel of the vehicle over roughroads or surfaces is such that the speed is insuflicient to operate thepump according to the speed demand, especially when the steam demand isgreatest or excessive, and insucient water would be pumped to theboiler, the present device obviates the necessity of hand-pumping tomeet the requirements to overcome the deficiency. For this purpose, theclutch 27 is operated manually or automatically to operativelydisconnect or declutch the shaft 23 from the shaft 29 at a time when thespeed of the velUU isc

hicle drops below a critical point. Previous to this the generator 34was being driven through the shafts 23 and 29, which were operativelyconnected at the clutch 27, thus serving to generate the current andstore the energy for various uses, including the operation of the waterpump 32, which operation is bro i1gl1t about under suitable controlmeans -ll upon the disconnection or declutching at the point 27 of theshafts 23 and 29. This being effected, the generator would then operateas a motor to drive the water pump 32 through the medium of the shaft 29and the worm drive or gear connections 3l between the same and the crankshaft 33, which will result in the proper feed of water to the boiler,thereby keeping the boiler feed pump up to the proper speed. Thisoperation is especially desirable in traveling over hilly' roads orgrades and is effective whenever the speed of the vehicle and thus theengine and the shaft 23 driven therefrom through mitre gear connections22 fall below normal.

It is also to be understood that the inven- -tion contemplates theapplication of the principles of operation herein set forth to drivingmeans other than motor vehicles wherein the driving means becomesinoperative or incapable of performing its functions, especially inconnection with an auxiliary element of the power unit or transmissionsystem, auxiliary or storage source of energy driven by the power meansduring ordinary operation, is brought into play or operation to operatethe pump for other auxiliary devices for supplying the required water tothe boiler or steam generator plant, or otherwise, according to therequirements. By this means, eiiicient and maximum operation is insuredand in a device such as described, maximum driving power and eiiiciencyis insured until such time as the condition again assumes normal.

I do not intend to be limited to the details shown and described exceptas the same are called for in the appended claims.

I claim l. In combination with an engine and a source of steam supplytherefor; of a pump for supplying water to the source of steam supplynormally operated by the engine, and means operable when the speed ofthe engine runs below a predetermined minimum to operate the pump.

2. In combination with an engine and a, source of steam supply therefor;of a pump for supplying water to the source of steam supply. normallyoperated by the engine, power generating means operated by the engineduring its normal operation and operatively connected to the pump, andmeans to disconnectthe pump and engine whereby the pump may be operatedby the lastnamed means when the engine operating speed drops below thatrequired for the operation of the pump.

3. In a motor vehicle, an engine, a source of fiuid supply for theengine, feeding means for said fluidk supply, a take-off from the engineadapted to operate said feeding means during ordinary running and whent-he demand upon the engine is not excessive, and means adapted tooperate the feeding means independently of the take-olf from the engineat times, including when the demand upon the engine is excessive or intraveling upgrade.

4. In a motor vehicle, an engine for driving the same, a source of iiuidenergy for the engine, feeding means for the latter source, a geartake-oli' device from the engine having operative connection with thefeeding means, means operative during the ordinary running of the engineand vehicle when the demand on the engine and source of energy is notexcessive to store energy for operating the feeding means when thedemand is excessive or in traveling upgrade, and means for disconnectingthe feeding means from the gear take-off of t-he engine at such times,whereby the feeding means will be operated solely by the stored emrgy`5. In combination with an engine and a pump adapted to be operated fromthe engine and having operative connect-ion therewith. means foroperating the pump independently of the engine when the demand on theengine is beyond normal, and means for disconnecting the engine from thepump at such times.

6. In combination with a steam engine having a source of steam supplyand a pump for supplying water thereto, of a. drive shaft operativelyconnecting the engine and pump for operating the latter, a clutchincluded in the connection adapted to disconnect the engine from thepump, and a generator operated from the shaft during the ordinaryoperation of the engine while also operating the pump, whereby when theengine and pump are disconnected, the pump may be operated by thegenerator. v

7. In combination with a steam engine and a source of steam supplytherefor; of a pump for supplying water thereto, a shaft having gearedconnection with the engine and the motor for driving the latter from theengine, a generator operated by the shaft and operatively connected tothe pump, and a clutch interposed in the shaft for disconnecting theengine and pump to permit the latter to be operated by the generatorindependently of the engine.

8. In combination with a steam engine having a source of steam supplyand a pump for supplying water thereto, of operative drive connectionsbetween the engine and the pump for operating the latter during ordinaryrunning of the engine or when traveling on level surfaces as drive meansfor a vehicle,

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means for storingrenergy from the engine operation at such times andhaving operative connection with the pump to operate the latterindependently of the engine upon the pump and engine being Voperativelydisconnected, and means to disconnect the engine and pump.

In Witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 29th' day ofAugust, 1924.

RAYMOND 'E4 WHITE.

